6 Things You’ll Worry About Now That You’ve Graduated

When people told you that your student years were the best years of your life, they weren’t joking. If you are emerging from the comfortable bubble of university and hoping that your new found adult life will be a breeze, then you are going to be sorely disappointed. Post-university your life will be a hot mess of worry, sleepless nights and constant questioning from those deemed responsible adults.

This very well might be the worst period of your life. You won’t be able to fight it, so you might as well resign yourself to the next few months of hell. The only solace I can offer you comes in the form of a promise. You will get through this. It might not seem possible now, but in less than a year you will feel better, stronger and ready to take on the world. But before that happens here are just six of the many things you’ll be worrying about.

1. Being single

During university everyone was single, so why the moment it ended did everyone couple up? Suddenly your friends consist of a group of couples, rather than a group of cool, young students. Some of them have even planned to move in together. You will find this terrifying. You will feel as though you’re the only singleton on the planet. In your Bridget Jones-esque state of mind you will begin writing a diary and wearing large cream coloured underwear.

Being single, despite popular belief, is not a disease. Enjoy it. Instead of worrying about when you will meet your soul mate, focus on enjoying having some time to yourself. You will wish you did later.

2. Understanding tax

What on earth is tax anyway? It is most likely that no one ever sat you down and explained how tax works. If you had a job during university, you will have been exempt from income tax. You will also have been exempt from council tax. All of a sudden you’ve had a bill come through for council tax and your first pay check has a significant amount of money missing from it. The bottom line is that tax is an awful thing, but apparently we have to pay it. We don’t like it, but we have to. Now that you’re a fully-fledged adult you have to pay it too. Deal with it.

3. Having no social life

Remember spending every single night out on the town? Remember being hungover in every 9 am lecture? Yeah, unfortunately, that has to stop. From now on the only nights you will go out are weekends and birthdays. Even then, you will spend the night stressing that you can’t afford it. As an added bonus all of your friends will have moved away, so even if you could afford it you’ve got no one to go out with.

4. Taking unpaid jobs

You thought you’d come out of university, emerge a fully qualified (insert dream profession here) and walk into the job you’ve always wanted. Reality check: no one cares about your degree. Now, you’re going to have to go and get the experience to back it up. That means one thing and one thing alone. Voluntary work. You will spend at least the next year of your life looking at placements, voluntary work and internships. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but then, nor is life.

5. Getting your dream job

On the other hand some people out there will get there dream job. This will hurt you as much as being kicked repeatedly in the stomach. Each time that person mentions their new amazing job as a (insert dream profession here) you will want to cry a little bit. Then some responsible adult will add salt to the wound by asking you when you’re going to get a ‘real job’; apparently your great bar job does not constitute this title.

You mustn’t cry, though. It takes all of us different amounts of time to find the role that suits us and so long as you never give up on your goal, you should be just fine. Just because someone else has something doesn’t mean you can’t get something equally as good. It’s not like there’s only one good job in the country or anything.

6. Going home

When times get hard you may have to move back in with your folks. This may feel like a massive step backwards, but it actually has a number of advantages. Home cooked meals and not having to pay rent are two fabulous reasons to move home. Nevertheless, when you do make the move, you will spend time preoccupied by the idea that you are turning back into a child. One night when you come in your mum will ask you where on earth you’ve been. This will be the lowest moment of your twenties. Surely, it should be better than this, right?

Ultimately post-university life is awful. Pretty soon, though, you will forget that you ever were a student and settle in to all the stresses and strains of adult life. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?